LLH
Lost Localhost

Next on the reading list...

I have a realy bad habbit of starting books, but never finishing. It's not that I'm not interested, it's just that I have so many more things to be doing with my time and I don't find the actual act of reading enjoyable. Despite this, I do have an interest in many books, and found one I may get through...The Survivors Club.

David Pitt explains it better than I...
"According to Sherwood, two questions are central to this book. What does it really take to survive a catastrophic event and what kind of survivor are you? You might be surprised at the answers. While there are tactics and strategies to surviving life tragedies, unforeseen accidents, and other catastrophes, many of these are instinctive (some, like exhibiting transitory superhuman strength, are manifested physiologically, without conscious planning). Some of us, Sherwood explains, are better survivors than others—in prisoner-of-war camps, for example, the people most likely to collapse are the eternal optimists who believe rescue is imminent and fail to come to terms with the possibility of long-term imprisonment. The book is a useful, insightful exploration of the nature of survival, the resilience of the human mind and body, and the ways in which we can all use our natural gifts to maximize our chances of coming through catastrophic situations." --David Pitt

Along with the book is a free "survivors test" which will identify your general survivor personality traits.



It was spot on with me - identifying myself as a "realist" with my initial answers, and a "thinker" when I took it a second time with my answers where I could have gone either way. I've been called a realist consistently for most of my life. Except for only a couple occasions I have always tried to look at things how they truely are and consider all outcomes and options. Sometimes because of this, it causes me to get concerned about something because I'm considering all possibilities. There is a running joke that my father and I are alike in that we will always say no to a question first - then give us a day or two to digest it and our opinions may change. I beleive this is because our minds haven't been able to play out all the factors with a situation: i.e.-budget, timing, other possible outcomes that will be introduced from that decision...

I'll let you know how it goes. =)

Cameras, Guns, and...well, more guns.

The last couple of weeks I've found a new hobby. Really, my wife will be pissed I say that, because I really hijacked hers. She has wanted to get into photography for a long while now, and I recently bought her a new entry DSLR from Canon that just came out, the T2i. "Entry" probably isn't the best term for it, considering the quality of this thing is amazing. So while she now has the tools to get more involved with photography, I've been reading up a lot on it and getting into it as well. Bottom line: expect more pics to show up here, as I will be updating the images section soon. For now, enjoy some of my favorite shots...


















(My Favorite)



Today was also the first day we went shooting for my company's Spring pistol league - which, thanks to the T2i, I got some decent video of.


T2i Test at the gun range... from Brian Smith on Vimeo.
The shooting in that video resulted in this target...


I had a really good shooting day, scoring really well on all my targets, even including out to 25 yards. One other thing that was quite special to me was another gun i got to shoot. When I was about 12 years old my grandfather, who had a very nice array or guns in his collection, bought me my first. When I opened the box I thought it was a BB gun, so I could look like another hunter in the family. My father was quick to point out "um, no son...That's a .22!". The thing is made of laminated wood, probably barely breaks four pounds, and has a metal lined plastic barrel; so it's not worth much money, but it's one of the very few sentimental things I have related to my grandpa. I had never shot it, and it has been in storage for about 15 years. I recently got a hold of it and shot it for the first time today.




It shoots straight as an arrow. I'm looking forward to having it be the first rifle my child someday shoots.

Last note: When I got the range I saw something interesting following me in the isles of the shop. I only got one quick shot of him. I kept thinking to myself that if I were a wild animal, a gun store would be the last place I'd be seen hanging around at.